The present invention relates to a fender, which is used as cushioning material mainly at the time of a ship being moored, and a management system thereof.
Conventionally, fenders are used for buffering shock arising in a ship, a quay, or ships when the ship comes alongside a structure such as the quay or the ship comes alongside another ship on the sea.
A fender is classified according to material buffering shock: a rubber fender buffering shock with rubber; a pneumatic fender buffering shock with air; a foam fender buffering shock with foam material; or the like. In addition, the fender is classified according to usage: a fixed fender used with being fixed with bolts to a structure such as a quay; and a floating fender used with being floating on the sea and moored with a chain or the like to a quay or a ship.
Owners of these fenders are various, for example, port-related groups, ship-holding companies, rental companies of fenders and oil companies, and there are many fender manufactures in the world.
Therefore, various types of fenders are intermixed in the same port. In particular, since the floating fenders are easily detached, the floating fenders are resold or borrowed and lent, are carried with being embarked on ships, or are used with being passed around many ships. Therefore, the floating fenders can not stay at a fixed location, but can move in the whole world in many cases.
In addition, since the fenders are expensive, the fenders are used for the long time such as more than ten years, and are used after repair in case of slight damages.
The fenders bear an important part in ships safely coming alongside quays and ships. The ships and quays are damaged if the fenders do not play the part, and hence it can cause serious accidents.
Therefore, for the holding companies and users of the fenders, it is very important to identify each fender and recognize manufacturing items such as a manufacturing date and a manufacturing place, specifications and structure, characteristics such as buffering capability, information regarding history such as repair and used places of each fender in real time, and to manage many fenders so as to use only the normal fenders in any time.
Nevertheless, it has been not easy to manage the fenders in a location where various fenders are intermixed as described above, and in particular, it was further difficult to manage the floating fenders used over the world with being moved.
An object of the present invention is in consideration of the above problems to provide a fender and a fender management system that make it possible to easily manage the fenders installed in being dispersed.
In order to attain the above object, the present invention comprises information memory means for storing predetermined information, and information read means for reading information stored in the information memory means, and a fender comprises a transponder that can access the information read means by wireless. In addition, a fender management system is configured, the system comprising: this fender; a terminal which is accessing the information memory means of the transponder, provided in the fender, by wireless; a control system that can communicate with this terminal, and stores information inherent in each fender, which is obtained through the terminal, with making the information correspond to each fender; and a computer that can communicate with the control system. The control system reads information from the information memory means of a transponder through the terminal, reads information of a fender stored in the computer by communicating with the computer, receives information inherent in each fender from the computer, and manages fenders, installed in a specific area, a wide area, or a plurality of remote areas, on the basis of this information above.
It is possible that the information memory means of a transponder includes information such as identification information inherent in each fender for identifying the fender, identification information inherent in each transponder for identifying the transponder mounted in a fender, and manufacturing information, historical information, and characteristics of the fender.
In addition, in order to manage in a specific area, a system comprising the fender, and a terminal receiving and transmitting information by communicating with a transponder, provided in the fender, by wireless is configured, and the terminal comprises: information memory means for storing information regarding the fender that is an object to be managed; reception means for receiving information transmitted from the transponder; information update means for updating information, stored in the information memory means, on the basis of this information received; and information display means for displaying information of the fender designated by an operator.
Furthermore, a system to which a control system having large information memory capacity is added is configured so that the system can receive and transmit information between the transponder and control system through the terminal, and can manage plenty of information for many fenders by using the control system.
According to the management system, a transponder is mounted in a fender, and hence it is possible to automatically read the predetermined information stored in the information memory means by accessing the transponder, and to manage each fender by using this information.
In addition, even if a location is apart from a fender in some extent, it is possible to access a transponder, to simplify management work, and to prevent an artificial human error on management.
Furthermore, by providing information write means for being capable of accessing a transponder by wireless and for writing information to the information memory means of the transponder, a fender itself can hold unique information relating to the fender.
In addition, a transponder comprises: reception means for receiving an electromagnetic wave having a first frequency; energy conversion means for converting the energy of the electromagnetic wave, received by the reception means, into electric energy; and transmission means for transmitting information, read from the information memory means by the information read means, by an electromagnetic wave having a second frequency. By making the transponder operate by electric energy obtained from the energy conversion means, it becomes possible for the transponder to semipermanently operate and to simplify the maintenance of the transponder.
Furthermore, as a concrete system configuration, at least one transponder, storing identification information inherent in a fender, is mounted in the fender that is an object to be managed. The control system stores information inherent in each fender that is an object to be managed, for example, manufacturing information such as rated dimensions, an initial internal pressure, a manufacturing date, and a customer name, and, for example, historical information such as an initial installation date, an installed period, subsequent installed places and installed periods, and check, inspection, and repair records. This information can be displayed by designating a specific fender.
Furthermore, if the installed place or the like of a fender is changes, the management system reads identification information by accessing the transponder of the fender with a terminal, and updates the historical information stored in the control system since the terminal generates the individual update information including this historical information and identification information by inputting to the terminal the historical information to be added. Thereby, it is possible to grasp information regarding an individual fender, to easily perform real-time management, and to prevent an artificial error on the management.
In addition, since necessary information of each fender is stored in the control system by locating a terminal in an area where fenders, which are objects to be managed, are installed and providing at least one control system according to necessity, it is possible to grasp historical data such as installed places and installed periods of the fenders immediately and exactly.
Furthermore, by performing information transfer between the control system and computer or between the terminal and control system through a communication network such as telephone lines, internets, wireless communications, and satellite communications, it is possible to update management information in real time without depending on distance between these installed places.
In addition, if the information memory means of a transponder stores identification information inherent in the transponder such as an ID code inherent in each transponder, the terminal or control system converts this ID code into a serial number of the fender by using a corresponding table, and generates individual update information including this serial number and historical information; manages information by using the serial number as the identification information of the fender. Thereby, it is possible to easily associate each fender with manufacturing information thereof.
Furthermore, by storing manufacturing drawings of each fender in manufacturing information memory means of the control system, it is possible to easily repair the fender on the basis of manufacturing drawings when urgent repair is necessary.
In addition, by operator""s command input, it is possible to grasp the location of each fender at the time of maintenance or the like by displaying a map or a photograph of the installed place and its vicinity of the installed place of an arbitrary fender on the basis of the historical information of the fender designated in the control system.
Furthermore, by operator""s command input, it is possible to easily perform movement plan such as the change of the installed place of a fender by displaying the installation state of the fender in a designated arbitrary area such as installed places, the number of fenders, kinds of the fenders, which are installed, on the basis of the historical information of the fenders in the control system.